By GEORGIA WESTGARTH
IF IT wasn’t for the Dandenong Journal, Helena and Richard Green would be without a photo from their wedding day.
Married in a “small no fuss” ceremony at St Gerard’s Catholic Church in Gladstone Road, Dandenong, the couple decided they couldn’t afford to buy the photos taken on their big day.
They were unaware that the original pictures would soon be gone forever.
“Somehow the proofs got damaged somewhere along the line and the photo printed in the Journal turned out to be the only one we had left.
“The photographer didn’t even tell us he just put it in and then I was reading through it and I said to Richard ‘these people look familiar’ and I read the rest and, of course, it was us,” Helena said.
But the miraculous find wouldn’t be Helena’s only connection to the Journal – she also managed to land a job with the newspaper.
Helena worked in the Journal’s accounts department for six weeks in a replacement position.
“I took calls and did the advertisements when the Journal was in Scott Street, Dandenong, and enjoyed my time there very much,” she said.
Helena tied the knot when she was 19 years old and said her marriage had been long and happy.
“Richard was 21 years old when we married and we’ve been together 47 years,” she said.
In those years the couple have brought up four children and now have seven grandchildren.
They said they have learned how to juggle their day-to-day lives over the years.
“Being that busy means you’ve just got to get on with what needs to be done,” she said.
Helena’s advice for a long happy marriage is “separate rooms”.
“Richard stays in the lounge room all day and I stay in the kitchen. I think people do need their space,” she said.
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The pair met in Nicole Avenue in Dandenong North and have lived in Dandenong most of their lives.
“I was 17 years old when we met and Richard was 19 years old. We became good friends and within two years we were married,” she said.
Helena had moved into the new estate across the road from her soon-to-be husband and she said they have been reading the Journal ever since.
“We always read the Journal cover to cover, it’s more important than reading the Herald Sun as far as we’re concerned,” she said.
